An Excerpt

On the flip side, first-time entrepreneurs often fail to realize that when you build something new, no one will care. People won’t use your product, won’t tell people about it, and almost certainly won’t pay for it.

.-=[ DSiOW - Dos SysOp's In An OS/2 World ]=-.
Issue #2 – Warp!

-=[ An Intro by The Author ]

Hello all and welcome to issue two of my e-mag “DOS SysOps In An OS/2
World”. Due to the overwhelming response to the last issue, I have decided to
release a new one to coincide with the release of the new OS/2 v3.0 Warp! I
will be including as much information as I can about how I an other SysOps
have their systems configured for maximum speed and reliability. I will also
be giving my first impressions of Warp and all of its toys <Grin>. So lets
get Warped!

-=[ Warp! ]

Since the Rollout announcement (Oct 11th, 1994) I have been patiently
awaiting the new OS/2 v3.0, code Named Warp. I had kept my eyes open for it
and to my chagrin, on Nov 4th (the secondary release date) I was able to pick
up a copy at my local EggHead software store for a measly 74.98. I took it
home,got on my computer, kicked everyone off my board and booted to DOS.
From there, I deltree’d my OS/2 dir (F:\OS2) my desktop dir, and all of the
hidden files on my drive and rebooted onto the install disks.. The installation
was a dream, first try, and my board was back up and flying in under 30 min.
I was impressed. Good job IBM!

I am glad to say that that you and I have been hearing about warp and
its abilities is TRUE! The speed difference is very noticeable, even on my
high-end system people were telling me how fast and smooth the board was
running. I had to do no real tweaking to my setup after I had install warp, it
seemed that most of my tunings from other versions (2.1/2.11/2.99 I & II) worked fine.

-=[ My TestBed System ]

As of Nov 9th 1994, My system is :

i486dx2/66
20 Megs Ram
540 Maxtor IDE (30 Megs Fat / 495 Megs HPFS) (C: E:)
1.08 Gig Maxtor EiDE (1080 Megs HPFS) (D:)
VESA Local Bus
Promise EiDE Controler
OS/2 v3.0 Warp

-=[ My Settings ]
As I have worked on the system the past few days, I have found some
things that help the bbs retain speed and performance. First and foremost,
the most important thing, is to use Ray Gwinn’s SIO drivers rather then the
normal com.sys vcom.sys that comes with OS/2, this will increase your throughput
greatly. Another thing is to set the priority_disk_io to No..this makes sure
that when a application is in the foreground, it does not get full control of
the disk drive. The New thing that has come about with the introduction of
Warp is the SESSION_PRIORITY setting. This is a very interesting setting, and
while it says in the documentation, that it is for giving priority to multiple
windows ™ sessions, it helps the BBS GREATLY. If you ask around, you will
probably get 32 different optimal settings from people, from 1 (default) to 32
(Highest).. I have found that setting the nodes at 2 and everything else I have
at 1, the board seems to run a lot smoother and the dos session seem to work a
lot better. With the SESSION_PRIORITY at 2, My mail tossing, went from about
2-3 MSG/sec to around 10-15 MSG/sec, a great improvement, especially with the
amount of mail I toss. And lastly, DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT should be set at 16, don’t
ask me exactly why, but it has to do with evening out the bumps in memory, and
it really seems to help the board load up faster.

So… Here is the list, if you dont want to decode that which is above

-=[ In The Dos Box ]

SESSION_PRIORITY=2 for each node, and 1 for all other non-crucial apps

DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT=16 Evens out memory

EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=1024 I see no reason for this to be bigger, even
Huge Door games don’t need this much, helps
with system resources being free.

SIO_IDLE_SENSITIVITY=28 This is the best I have found before running
into character loss

IDLE_SENSITIVITY=38 I think I have always had this set this way, and
when I change it, I see real diff any lower.

XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT=0 Check and see if anything you run uses XMS, if
Not, trash it and set the next one too

XMS_HANDLES=0 If you set the last one to 0, set this one too!
-=[ In The Config.sys ]

PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO don’t let the foreground app have full disk control

DEVICE=SIO.SYS Ray Gwinn has made the greatest OS/2 Comm drivers
availiable, use them for the performance gains

MEMMAN=SWAP,COMMIT use this to tell OS/2 to make a swap file and keep
it the same size you start it at.

MAXWAIT=1 This tells OS/2 that Nothing should wait longer then 1
second before being serviced
Now I will just list my Config.sys file for all to see

-=[ Config.sys by Steve Noble ]

-= Things with a * next to them are the important parts =-

* IFS=D:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:2048 /CRECL:64 /AUTOCHECK:DE
I have 20 megs of ram, so I run a 2048 HPFS Cache, with the CRECL at 64
if you have less, you might want to set it at 1024, and 32 respectivly.

PROTSHELL=D:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET USER_INI=D:\OS2\OS2.INI
SET SYSTEM_INI=D:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
SET OS2_SHELL=D:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS,LAUNCHPAD
SET RUNWORKPLACE=D:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET COMSPEC=D:\OS2\CMD.EXE
LIBPATH=.;D:\OS2\DLL;D:\OS2\MDOS;D:\;D:\OS2\APPS\DLL;D:\MMOS2\DLL;D:\IBM
WORKS
SET
PATH=D:\OS2;D:\OS2\SYSTEM;D:\OS2\INSTALL;D:\;D:\OS2\MDOS;D:\OS2\APPS;D:\MMOS2
;D:\IBMWORKS;
SET
DPATH=D:\OS2;D:\OS2\SYSTEM;D:\OS2\INSTALL;D:\;D:\OS2\BITMAP;D:\OS2\MDOS;
D:\OS2\APPS;D:\MMOS2;D:\MMOS2\INSTALL;
SET PROMPT=$i[$p]
SET
HELP=D:\OS2\HELP;D:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;D:\MMOS2\HELP;D:\IBMWORKS
SET GLOSSARY=D:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS

* PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO
No one gets priority on the Drive

FILES=30
BASEDEV=IBMKBD.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\BOOT\TESTCFG.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\BOOT\DOS.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\BOOT\PMDD.SYS

* BUFFERS=90
This I think is new for warp (it being this high between 90-100 is good)

IOPL=YES
DISKCACHE=64,LW
There is no use for me to run a Fat diskcache..my fat drive is only for
maintenece booting

* MAXWAIT=1
Nothing waits more then a second for access, good for BBS’s

* MEMMAN=SWAP,COMMIT
Make it and Keep it that size

* SWAPPATH=E:\SWAP 2048 20408
Make a HUGE Swapper, and try to get it commited.

BREAK=OFF
THREADS=256
PRINTMONBUFSIZE=134,134,134
COUNTRY=001,D:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
SET KEYS=ON
SET BOOKSHELF=D:\OS2\BOOK;D:\MMOS2;
SET SOMIR=D:\OS2\ETC\SOM.IR;D:\OS2\ETC\WPSH.IR;D:\OS2\ETC\WPDSERV.IR
SET SOMDDIR=D:\OS2\ETC\DSOM
REM SET DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;D:\DELETE,512;E:\DELETE,512;F:\DELETE,512;
BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
BASEDEV=IBM2FLPY.ADD
BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD
BASEDEV=XDFLOPPY.FLT
BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD
SET EPMPATH=D:\OS2\APPS;
PROTECTONLY=NO
SHELL=D:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM D:\OS2\MDOS
FCBS=16,8
RMSIZE=640
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS
DOS=LOW,NOUMB
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\BOOT\OS2CDROM.DMD /Q
IFS=D:\OS2\BOOT\CDFS.IFS /Q
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS
BASEDEV=SBCD2.ADD
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\BOOT\POINTDD.SYS
DEVICE=D:\OS2\BOOT\MOUSE.SYS

* DEVICE=D:\SIO\SIO.SYS (COM2:38400,2F8,3,-,) (COM3:38400,3E8,4,-,)(COM4:38400,2E8,5,-,)

* DEVICE=D:\SIO\VSIO.SYS

CODEPAGE=437,850
DEVINFO=KBD,US,D:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
—
DEVICE=D:\MMOS2\SB16D2.SYS 1 1 7 7 220 4 330 /N:SBAUD1$ /Q
DEVICE=D:\MMOS2\AUDIOVDD.SYS SBAUD1$
SET MMBASE=D:\MMOS2;
SET DSPPATH=D:\MMOS2\DSP;
SET NCDEBUG=4000
DEVICE=D:\MMOS2\SSMDD.SYS
DEVICE=D:\MMOS2\R0STUB.SYS
—
all of this slows down the bbs, so if you dont plan on playing
with the sound, I suggest you rem it out.

SET IBMWORKS_INI=D:\IBMWORKS
SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_SVGA
DEVICE=D:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,D:\OS2\BOOT\VIOTBL.DCP
SET VIO_SVGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
Well there is that..there are probably more optimal settings, but I haven’t
found them

-=[ Charles Bowman's Settings ]

Charles is running OS/2 on a 386dx/40 with 16 Megs of ram, I asked him to
send me his most optimal settings at this time and this is what I got (Full of good
stuff in my estimation).

-=[Config.sys by Charles Bowman]

IFS=E:\OS2\HPFS.IFS /CACHE:2048 /CRECL:64 /AUTOCHECK:DEFGHI
This is a 16 Meg system, if you run 8 or so you may want
to keep the CACHE around 1024 and the CRECL around 32,
experiment to find the best settings for you.

PROTSHELL=E:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET USER_INI=E:\OS2\OS2.INI
SET SYSTEM_INI=E:\OS2\OS2SYS.INI
SET OS2_SHELL=E:\OS2\CMD.EXE
SET RESTARTOBJECTS=STARTUPFOLDERSONLY
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS
SET RUNWORKPLACE=E:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE
SET COMSPEC=E:\OS2\CMD.EXE
LIBPATH=.;E:\OS2\DLL;E:\OS2\MDOS;E:\;E:\OS2\APPS\DLL;
SET
PATH=.\;E:\OS2;E:\OS2\SYSTEM;E:\OS2\INSTALL;E:\SIO;E:\;E:\OS2\MDOS;E:\OS2\APPS;
C:\WINDOWS;D:\ZIP
SET
DPATH=E:\OS2;E:\OS2\SYSTEM;E:\OS2\INSTALL;E:\;E:\OS2\BITMAP;E:\OS2\MDOS;
E:\OS2\APPS;
C:\WINDOWS
SET PROMPT=$i[$p]
SET HELP=E:\OS2\HELP;E:\OS2\HELP\TUTORIAL;
SET GLOSSARY=E:\OS2\HELP\GLOSS;
SET IPF_KEYS=SBCS
PRIORITY_DISK_IO=NO
FILES=50
DEVICE=E:\OS2\TESTCFG.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\DOS.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\PMDD.SYS
BUFFERS=85
IOPL=NO
MAXWAIT=1
MEMMAN=SWAP,COMMIT << Awesome Improvement
SWAPPATH=I:\ 4096 16000 << Keeps swapping overhead down
BREAK=OFF
THREADS=512
PRINTMONBUFSIZE=134,0,0
COUNTRY=001,E:\OS2\SYSTEM\COUNTRY.SYS
SET KEYS=ON
REM SET
DELDIR=C:\DELETE,512;D:\DELETE,512;E:\DELETE,512;F:\DELETE,512;G:\DELETE,512;
H:\DELETE,512;
BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS
BASEDEV=IBM1FLPY.ADD
BASEDEV=IBM1S506.ADD /A:0 /U:0 /U:1 /SMS << Right out of 76 tips OS/2 Magazine
Using the IBM1S506.ADD file from Warp II, gives the best performance.

BASEDEV=OS2DASD.DMD
SET BOOKSHELF=E:\OS2\BOOK
SET EPMPATH=E:\OS2\APPS;
REM DEVICE=E:\OS2\APPS\SASYNCDA.SYS
PROTECTONLY=NO
SHELL=E:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM E:\OS2\MDOS
FCBS=16,8
RMSIZE=640
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
REM DEVICE=E:\OS2\PCMCIA.SYS
REM DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VPCMCIA.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS SERIAL=COM1
DEVICE=E:\SIO\SIO.SYS (COM2:115200,,,-)(COM3)(COM4:57600,,,-)
DEVICE=E:\SIO\VSIO.SYS
REM DEVICE=E:\OS2\COM.SYS
REM DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS
CODEPAGE=437,850
DEVINFO=KBD,US,E:\OS2\KEYBOARD.DCP
SET VIDEO_DEVICES=VIO_SVGA
SET VIO_SVGA=DEVICE(BVHVGA,BVHSVGA)
DEVICE=E:\OS2\MDOS\VSVGA.SYS
RUN=E:\OS2\CACHE.EXE /MAXAGE:30000 /DISKIDLE:60000 /BUFFERIDLE:60000
Of course this is still a major boost.

DISKCACHE=512,LW,128,AC:C
So is this (but it’s my only FAT partition)

DEVICE=E:\OS2\VDISK.SYS 16
DEVINFO=SCR,VGA,E:\OS2\VIOTBL.DCP

-=[Running OS/2 Mailers]

There has always been a great deal of discussion over the viability of running
an OS/2 mailer and a Dos based BBS program. It can and has been done, and is
very effective. The bonuses are many, you get can get a fully multi-threaded 32
bit mailer which will cut down on CPU time, and therefore releasing system resources
for those who need them (your other nodes, or maybe you). The idea is simple, let
me lay it out for you.

First, you need a OS/2 Based Front End Mailer (FEM)..Binkley Term and
Maindoor/2 are the most widely used that I know of (yes, that I know of), MainDoor/2
is a newer program that first was discovered in a Spanish only version, a man took
the time (and money) to have the docs professionally translated in order to have a
better understanding of the software and help others who wanted to set it up. I
have heard (I do not personally know) that it is a very efficient software. Binkley
Term is the most widly known and used FEM, used by such people as Pete Norlof of
the famed “OS/2 Shareware BBS”.

Second, you will need a program called Start, or HStart (or any similar
program, start.exe should be included in your OS.2 package, just type start at a OS/2
cmd prompt) that can spawn a Dos session from an OS/2 session.
Install the FEM and configure it to your liking. Then edit the bbs.cmd file, to
include a line like this

:bbs
hstart board.bat

and just have the batch file call the board. very simple, there is a lot more that
can be done with this, but I won’t go indepth.

-=[Tips!]

There are some tips that I have found, will help you and your users to better
enjoy the services that your system provides, you can take of them what you want,
they are really only my opinion.

1.) Run Tame 3.20, if you run any Door games, because even if your board
seems to runs fine under OS/2, the doors may not. here are my settings for
Tame loaded like this c:\tame\tame /settings 6 /i

*** 6.set *******
/Idle_Indicate Time
/Idle_Indicate 99
/HK STATUS ALT-CTRL-F10
/NoTimer
/NoWorkTime 8 2
/Task_Switch_Time 10
/Work_Indicate Com2 IRQ3 Com3 IRQ4
/Boost 2 0
/II NOWORK
*******************

2.) Unless you have a dedicated mail node, I would suggest that you have your
.bat file for the board spawn another dos/OS2 session, to toss the mail. It gets the
board back online faster, and leaves you with less downtime, a plus in many users
eyes.

-=[Endtro]

Well that concludes this edition of DSiOW. Send any comments, suggestions,
or other wise to me as 1:203/7666 FidoNet or 50:100/1400 RGSNet, or lastly
u220@cs.sierra.cc.ca.us. And if anyone has a .inf compiler and would like to help me
out, I would be greatly appreciative.

Steve

I am drooling after seeing this mornings Uncrate email.

Today they have some Carbon Fiber Daggers

With the bundle costing $200 or available separately.  The daggers are made of 100% Carbon Fiber and include the slotted-blade Escort, the honeycombed Escort II, and the open-handled Escort III.

While browsing around the site I found another really neat item, the Carbon Fiber and Titanium Money Clip Knife

The Axiom interfaces with Logic Pro really well, I was able to put my computer keyboard away while I worked on the song. The HyperControl Technology is pretty amazing stuff.

Since I will have to return the Axiom today I am thinking I should go with a bigger version, either the 49 key or the 61 key. For some reason the 61 key is much cheaper then the 49 key.

I have enough space for the 61 key so I think I am going to go that direction. The 25 key is too small.. It works as a programmer but that is it.

Do any of my readers have insight into this?

Since then I have had a chance to use their products more in depth and gather enough knowledge for a short review/overview.

DediServe offers Cloud based servers, CDN (the two products I am working with) and other products that I am not working with and will not cover in this review.

Cloud VDC:

I have both a single node VDC in London that I am using to replace a aging co-located box in Texas and a 15 node VDC in Texas that I am working with to see if I can use it to save money over AWS.

DediServe offers many features that go above and beyond what AWS can and at a great price.  My current estimates are that using AWS to do the work I need to do would cost around $3500 US a month, from DediServe it is around $600.  DediServe offers static IPs and static resources that you can reconfigure on the fly while AWS is more of a on-demand type service.  You can get static IPs with AWS but it’s no where near as simple as it is with DediServe.

DediServe prides itself in offering robust, HA platform that is architected as a replacement for ‘traditional’ mission critical infrastructure.  Blades, Netapps, 10G networking and other features you don’t find in AWS.

Here is a quick list of Pros and Cons as I see them with DediServe vs AWS (I know it’s a somewhat unfair comparison but it’s what I have been working with).

DediServe Pros:

Support:

Amazing support infrastructure: The team has given me %110 and still continues to work with me on special requirements.  I am working with everyone from their support department to C-level employees, everyone is respectful and helpful.

Cost:

literally 1/4 or less of the cost of a similar AWS setup with a fixed cost (vs AWS pay as you go model)

Stability:

I have seen no issues with the functionality of my 24×7 machine in London, it has been rock solid (the 15 node VDC is in a constant flux as I am trying to use it for something it was not designed for).

DediServe Cons:

Deployment:

Standard node turn up time is slower then AWS, a AWS node can be deployed in about 90 seconds, where as a standard (note: DediServe is offering me ways to make this match using local disks) node deployment on DediServe is around 8 minutes (2G RAM, 70G Disk). The solution they are offering me would bring this down to about 90 seconds at a slightly increased cost.

Billing:

AWS is a pay-as-you-go environment where if needed you can cut your costs by shutting down machines and only deploying them when needed.  With DediServe you pay for your hardware on a monthly basis.  (Note: this can also be a Pro as you have a known cost).

Summary:

I really like DediServe, fantastic folks who go out of their way to support my non-standard use of their products.

Over the years I have used just about every music sharing site there is to display my wares.  A few days ago I went to update one of my music pages at artists.download.com and discovered that the site redirects to last.fm.  I have no idea when that happened, but it does appear they saved my account.

I am now updating the SONN account on last.fm.

The rest of my accounts (if I can locate them..) appear to be less useful.  I do have a nimbit account but during a kerfluffle I ended up with a free account which appears to not be as useful as the free account I had before I upgraded to a paid account.

And if that doesn’t work you can just go directly to The SONN Nimbit Store and play/download from there.

You can visit them at www.dediserve.com

My current project is more of a shell for others to work with and see the power of the tools that XDN provides.

If anyone is interested in looking at it, drop me a line at the usual places.

Hi Tim.

Currently the CDNI group is working partly to satisfy the providers who are concerned that giving out too much information will allow other providers to use that information in an underhanded way. I do not agree with this direction.

In order for a federation to work, all of the providers in the federation must have something to offer. This means these providers are valuable to the ecosystem. If a provider is advertising x while only having y (capacity/features/etc) then the provider is not a trustworthy addition to the federation.

That being said, my experience from negotiating peering, dealing with DoS and DDoS attacks and other networking issues since the early 90′s has taught me that there will always be a back channel for communication between entities that rely on each other. This will have to be true in CDN Federation.

I am going to recount my view of being in the middle of one of the more famed DDoS attacks. TL;DR – MafiaBoy took down one of my customers and working with my peers at other ISPs was why the damage was limited.

In February of 2000 there was (the first) high-profile DDoS attack on multiple Internet properties including Amazon, eBay, Buy.Com, Onsale and others. During this time I was working for Exodus Communications as a Sr. Network Engineer.

The whole time the engineering and security teams from the different ISPs hosting the providers under attack (myself included) were freely sharing any information possible to help and be helped dealing with the situation. This information included things like router versions, hardware, packet captures, filters used/tried, etc.

I believe this is one of the main reasons the attacks were only effective for short periods of time. This was not the first or last time that these types of discussions happened.